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Hostile online attacks, or simply unhappy client reviews, mean trouble. How we manage online engagement is critical to our reputation, and our reputation is critical to our success.
Fewer than 30 per cent of us know how to handle negative online reviews. The old way was to ignore public criticism, with the belief that any comment given would only draw more attention to the complaint.
Not so online. Just deleting and blocking unhappy customers will damage our business. Some 88 per cent of our future clients will research us online and 57 per cent will make a decision before making contact with us. A negative review handled badly will see us fall to the bottom of their shortlist.
Here are a few simple guide lines that might help.
1. Respond immediately
Respond to the post with a public message alongside their complaint that says you care. E.g. “I am so sorry you have had a bad experience but thank you for letting us know. We pride ourselves on our 98 per cent customer satisfaction rating so this is important to us. I have reached out to you privately and look forward to putting this right”.
Next, send them a private message asking them for their phone number and a convenient time to call. Alternatively, provide your office number and email address, and ask them to write to you in more detail about their complaint so that you can look into it.
2. Find out why
Communicate however you can, via online messaging or email if that’s all the contact details you have. Otherwise, make a phone call or invite them to meet with you at the office. Find out what actually happened in the situation, which will give you some insight into the situation, but more importantly will allow them to feel heard and important.
3. Be professional
Criticism is hard to take, especially if it is unfounded but do not react emotionally. It’s important to be human and genuine, not officious. Do not get angry, personal or dismissive. It is recommended that someone more neutral than the ‘complainee’ make the initial contact.
4. Fix the problem
If you or one of your team have done something wrong or could have improved somewhere, admit it and make steps to rectify the situation where you can.
5. Apologise
Whether you have been able to fix what is done or not, once the situation has been resolved, send a gift with a handwritten note. In most cases, there is going to be some element of truth to whatever the complaint is. So apologise for it. You have more to lose than they do.
6. Do not delete or block
Do not delete the complaint or block the person who has made it unless you have to. The customer has the ability to edit their post, plus they will hopefully comment on how well their complaint was handled. On the odd occasion the person has a personal agenda with no intention of reaching a solution or if they become abusive, then block them from the page and delete their comments or posts.
7. Appoint a champion
Identify someone on your team skilled to handle online reviews, someone who you trust not to be emotionally reactive and who will be responsible for finding and responding to all online reviews.
- Great article Irene. I remember, many years ago, you making the valid point to me that there is more to be gained by remaining positive. We were talking about the way we respond to our competition then but the same applies to the way we react to public feedback. Mind you, there is a line that should not be crossed. It always amazes me when people demand my help as a franchisor while at the same time threatening to go online or to Today Tonight, etc. hard to respond positively to a threat of "Save me or I'll shoot you" .... GB0
- Very interesting article. My business deals with 700 university tenants. I get 1 star reviews because there vacuum cleaner is not working, they din"t get all their bond back as cleaning was required, we asked the tenant to remove push bikes from the lounge, the list goes on. unfortunately under 25s will review every thing. I know numerous young adults that have 20+ google accounts. I can assure you I have learn t that the old adage (don't poke the bear) does not work online. As Agency businesses become more prominent on line our exposure to reviews is increased.
the word programmatically being a new word for me but relates how reviews are calculated as well as every thing online. Cheating as mentioned in other reviews is not new in business, I believe it will be the only way to counter reviews as positive feedback is hard to get. Info. To remove reviews from Facebook take off your mapping. google no chance and rate my agent is aligned with google plus many more sites.
We are now in the process of working with this new issue. I could mention numerous problem sites but would start ranting and not solve the issue.
Welcome to the new world run by google.0 - This is great advice. Real estate is such an emotional industry for buyers, vendors and landlords. We generally recommend a similar process to our real estate clients when managing their online profiles. Unless the comment is abusive or offensive don't delete it, apologize and direct the complainer to an offline method of communication to resolve the issue. :)-1
- Real Estate Agents / Agency's are naturally adverse to any online ratings and reviews and mostly do not know how to (or have the time to) deal with them. The issue is, as mentioned in the article, potential clients search online to assess a real estate agency before giving them their property to sell or buy a property.0
- A local agent deals with tnis in an interesting manor. He subscribes to ratemyagent.com.au & uses it to gain listings because of the great reviews about him. BUT you need to be a subscriber & if he gets a great result he sends the vendor a link to that site so they can post a positive review. On the other hand there have been a number of unhappy vendors but they won't be sent the link, hence there is no negative comments. Clever? Cheating? Misleading? You bet!0
- Good article. I recently left feedback (not a rant) on the Facebook page of an agent that manages one of my investment properties. Their response was to remove the comment and block me from their page. They would benefit from this article.0
- James, where are you based? If you wish another option, I am in Melbourne1
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